One point more requires special notice; the manner, namely, that I have adopted in this edition of writing Prâkŗit conjuncts containing aspirates, whether hard or soft. Thus it is usual to write the Prâkŗt forms of लक्ष्मी, पुष्प, पृष्ठा as लच्छी,पुष्फ, पुच्छिदा. Editors of Sanskrit-Prâkŗit works have always, in fact, followed the same rules in writing Prâkŗit conjuncts as they do in writing Sanskrit conjunct letters. And Vararuchi, also, after having enjoined, that wherever, after performing an elision or substitution enjoined by a rule, a single consonant comes to represent a conjunct, this letter is always doubled, except in the beginning of a word"(शेषदेशयोद्दिंत्वमनादौ, Prâkŗita-Prakaâśa III. 50, Prof. Cowel's Edition), he states, that "wherever the single representative is an aspirate ......... is to be doubled by prefixing its own non-aspirate,” (वर्णेषु यजः पूर्वः Ibid. III. 51) . therefore,Vararuchi. clearly enjoins forms like लच्छी, पुप्फ, and पुच्छिदा, not ली, एफ, धछुिदा. लछी/छ, पुफ्/फ्, पुछि/छदा।
I must accordingly explain why I have deviated from that grammarian. My authority for the deviation is the concurrent testimony of all the MSS. 'These have a peculiar method of writing Prâkŗit conjuncts. In Sanskrit they give all the components of a conjunct distinctly, but in Prâkŗit the presence of the first component of every conjunct letter is merely indicated by a dot placed before it. This dot indicates that the letter before which it is placed is to be doubled. Thus what ought to be fully written अत्तभवं, they write अ-तभवं, ajjǎutta is अ-जउ-त and not अज्जउत्त. And so also in the case of conjuncts containing aspirates. As दि-ठा, ल-छी, पु-फ, पु-छिदा. This practice of indicating a doubling by means of a dot is not only what is found in the Devanâgarî MSS., but even the Bangalore MS, written in Telagu (that marked G), follows the same method, and that under circumstances which clearly show what importance is attached to this method of writing conjuncts. For it is well known that in the Telagu character the mark for an anusvara, whether this be original, as in सिंह, substitutionary for any of the five nasals, as in नंद, is a dot put
